Pentangle

Pentangle's fourth LP lacks the jazzy exuberance of earlier releases. Instead, the band bores into the English earth, while fleshing out some traditional folk. One song, the 19-minute "Jack Orion,"€ takes up all of side B with its woody percussion and the psychic guitar interplay of Bert Jansch and John Renbourn. Overall, Cruel Sister is a muted and fairly introspective affair. Like a lot of '60s bands shifting into the early '™70s, Pentangle sounds as if it’s retreating into the music.

They still declare fealty to Transatlantic Records, but this is a retreat into pure--or impure, ask a folklorist--traditional English balladry. Gone is the jazz feeling Danny Thompson and Terry Cox can insinuate so cunningly, not to mention the American songs, and I prefer "In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida" to the eighteen-minute "Jack Orion," about a noble fiddler betrayed by his serving lad. Don't they realize that every verse of "Cruel Sister" used to end "Fa la la la la la la la la la" because in the olde days people had nothing else to do at night? (Grade - C+)